Antoine Griezmann Scores Twice and Martín Ojeda Dazzles as Orlando City Rout D.C. United 4-1

The ball dropped behind Martín Ojeda, which should have been the end of the chance. Instead, in the 22nd minute at Inter&Co Stadium, the Orlando City playmaker twisted his body and flicked a back-heel volley past Sean Johnson and inside the post. Somewhere, a highlight editor started weeping with joy.

That goal was the signature moment of a 4-1 Orlando City rout of D.C. United on Saturday night, but it was not even the main storyline. Antoine Griezmann scored twice and set up Ojeda's masterpiece, Marco Pasalic added a stoppage-time fourth, and the Lions put on the kind of show that makes you check the replay twice just to be sure you saw it right.

D.C. Start Fast, Orlando Strike Twice

Credit where it is due: D.C. United came out swinging. Tai Baribo sent one just past the top right corner in the seventh minute, and in a frantic eighth minute Maxime Crépeau stopped João Peglow and Silvan Hefti while Kye Rowles had a close-range effort blocked. Rowles also headed a corner wide in the 10th.

Then Orlando showed them how it is done. In the 15th minute, Daryl Dike held the ball up at the top of the box and fed Griezmann, who swapped passes with Ojeda. Ojeda chipped a first-time ball over the D.C. back line, and Griezmann met it first time from close range for 1-0.

Seven minutes later came the goal of the night. Orlando's account of the move had Ojeda exchanging passes with Eduard Atuesta, releasing Zakaria Taifi into the box, and Taifi finding Griezmann, who chipped it back over the defense. The ball arrived behind Ojeda, so he improvised with the back of his right heel and steered it into the bottom left corner. Orlando's own match notes floated it as a goal of the season candidate.

D.C. clawed one back before the break. Wilder Cartagena brought down Sean Nealis in the box, and Baribo converted the right-footed penalty into the bottom left corner in the second minute of first-half stoppage time. D.C. said it was his team-leading 16th goal of the season.

Griezmann Takes the Gift

Any momentum D.C. carried into halftime lasted five minutes. In the 50th minute, Rowles played a pass straight to Griezmann in D.C.'s defensive third, and with nobody between him and goal, the Frenchman made no mistake, rolling a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner for 3-1.

D.C. kept trying. Crépeau saved a Nealis header in the 58th minute, and Baribo had headers miss the target in the 68th and 85th minutes, plus a close-range attempt blocked in the 81st. At the other end, Johnson stopped Iván Angulo in the 59th and Griezmann from distance in the 76th.

The cherry on top arrived in the fifth minute of stoppage time. Substitute Justin Ellis threaded a through ball on a break, and fellow substitute Pasalic ran onto it and finished low with his left foot into the bottom left corner. Orlando said Pasalic had missed the previous match at Toronto through a yellow card suspension, so he made up for lost time.

Griezmann's Ridiculous Pace

Antoine Griezmann finished with two goals and an assist on three shots, all of them on target. According to The Associated Press, he now has 12 goals and seven assists in 14 MLS appearances and is the first player in league history with a goal contribution in 12 of his first 14 career games. Orlando said his second goal was his 20th goal contribution for the club across all competitions, in 18 games.

Martín Ojeda had a goal and an assist, and Orlando City called him the Lions' all-time best goalscorer. Pasalic, the man who scored the fourth, knew exactly which goal people would be talking about. "It was a crazy goal," Pasalic said, according to MLS. "These goals you don't see every weekend or every game, so I think this is something you have to watch like 100 times, maybe not like 10 times like my goal."

For D.C., Tai Baribo worked as hard as anyone on the field, with seven shots, two offsides and the penalty goal. Sean Johnson and Maxime Crépeau each made three saves.

The Turning Point

Rowles' giveaway in the 50th minute decided the night. D.C. had just pulled a goal back on the stroke of halftime and had reasons to believe in a comeback. Five minutes into the second half, that belief was gone, and Orlando could play the rest of the match on their own terms.

Stats That Matter

• Shots on target: Orlando put seven on target to D.C.'s four, even though D.C. outshot them 15-13.
• Possession: Orlando held 59.3 percent of the ball.
• Crossing: D.C. sent in 35 crosses and completed eight.
• Corners: D.C. won eight corners to Orlando's one.
• Clearances: Orlando made 34 clearances to D.C.'s 14.

What It Means

Orlando City improve to 12-5-13 (wins, draws, losses) with 41 points. They had won 3-2 against Columbus and drawn 3-3 at Toronto in their previous two matches, so this extends a three-game unbeaten run. Orlando said it was their third straight home win over D.C., by a combined 13-2, and this one matched the scoreline of last year's home meeting. The Lions host New York City FC next Saturday.

D.C. United fall to 7-12-10 with 33 points. Head coach René Weiler made three changes from Wednesday's 2-1 win over Red Bull New York, per the club, with Nealis replacing captain Lucas Bartlett, who was suspended after a red card. MLS still listed D.C. among the teams in the mix for the East's final playoff spot, and they now face Cincinnati twice in a row, starting Wednesday. The teams split the season series, after D.C. won 3-2 at home in April.

The Closing Take

Griezmann and Ojeda are running a buddy-cop movie in Orlando, the kind where both leads keep stealing scenes from each other and the audience does not care who gets top billing. D.C. brought the effort. Orlando brought the special effects.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quote as reported by MLSsoccer.com. Additional details from The Associated Press via ESPN, Orlando City SC and D.C. United.